Lessons and Malfoys
Chapter 21
Tuesday, August 13
The days following Ollivander's kidnapping, the Ministry had started issuing leaflets along with the Daily Prophet.
The purple leaflet had a few simple rules to follow, which when Harry thought about it, weren't really useful at all. For example, it had nothing on what to do when a Death Eater did come knocking.
Sirius and Harry had discussed it over breakfast as they agreed on a simple set of questions, mostly for the sake of humouring each other. They did not have any pressing matters that required them to leave the house, so it turned out to be a fun way to get to answer each other's questions and play 'who knew the other best'.
True to Harry's word, his Transfiguration work had gotten better and better. It now took only a couple of seconds to transfigure an object into iron.
"Why iron though?" asked Harry, tossing aside the spoon that had turned to solid cast iron. "Why not gold?"
Sirius was lounging on the armchair as he read a book with one hand and idly stroked Hedwig with the other, who was perched on the armrest with her eyes closed and seemingly basking in Sirius' ministrations. Harry had noted that Hedwig always seemed to be very affectionate to Sirius, nipping his finger or perching on his shoulder.
So was Buckbeak, thought Harry. Sirius never once bowed to Buckbeak, even though Harry had to, but he knew Sirius and Buckbeak had lived together for two years, so there was bound to be some trust and friendship there. He realised something suddenly. Merlin, even Crookshanks! Maybe, Sirius had some strange pull over all magical creatures. That was worth a thought for another day, Harry decided.
Sirius looked up, raising an eyebrow. "I'm amused you even ask that. Iron is a lot stronger than gold."
"But Dumbledore enchanted the gold statues to take the hit, didn't he?" pointed out Harry.
Sirius looked contemplative. "As far as I know, only goblin-wrought metal is stronger than regular iron. The Fountain of Magical Brethren was goblin-wrought which might explain why it could withstand the curse."
"And goblin-wrought metal can't be conjured," said Harry glumly. That explained it.
"Yes, so iron has to do," said Sirius with a nod as he went back to his book which on closer inspection turned out to be on Inferi.
"Is that book about the Inferi that was mentioned in the leaflet?"
"Yup, I've heard about it during the last war, but I never really knew anything about it other than the fact that they are corpses."
"What?" Harry was sure he had misheard.
"Inferi are corpses that are enchanted to do a wizard's bidding," said Sirius with a grimace.
Harry's expression contorted in disgust when Sirius saw the look on his face and nodded. "Sounds vile, doesn't it? Enchanting a corpse is Dark Magic. A corpse doesn't really become alive but the enchantment is enough to carry out the wizard's commands. I've heard Voldemort killed enough during the last war that he created an army out of them."
Harry still looked revolted. "But how does one kill something that's already dead?"
Sirius smiled. "That's exactly the reason I found this book up in the library. It says in here," he said rifling through a few pages before stopping to read, "that an Inferius thrives in cold, dark places and naturally loathes light and heat, like most of the other Dark creatures."
"Light and heat…" mused Harry.
Sirius continued in a lecturing tone, "Which means that we would…"
"Light a fire!" finished Harry.
"Yes, there are about fifteen different variations of Incendio listed and like I said before while practising Shield Charms, one of it is the Protego Incendium which conjures a shield of fire."
Harry muttered, "Protego incendium for Inferi. Right. Why doesn't the Ministry give good tips like that?"
Sirius let out a bark of laughter as he shook his head. Suddenly, a bright white light appeared in the middle of the room and both of them jumped, startled. Hedwig squawked and soared away from Sirius and outside the window.
It was a phoenix Patronus which opened its mouth to speak in Dumbledore's voice, "Emmeline Vance was found dead early this morning. The Aurors have arrived at her house. Do not leave the house until I say so."
It dissolved into thin air and Harry looked at Sirius, horrified. One of the members of the Order had just been murdered. Sirius was looking stunned as he whispered, "Poor Emmeline."
oOo
The news of Emmeline Vance's death brought a sordid sense of gloom to the inmates of Number Seven, Potter Manor. Harry was more determined than ever to learn to duel properly and with nothing else to do, Sirius announced that he was going to teach him the finer points of duelling.
On an unnaturally cloudy summer's day, Sirius and Harry decided to duel outside since it was a risk with all the flying spells if they duelled inside the house. The duelling room was designed for just that, but Sirius reckoned it would be good to be outdoors for a few hours at least. The weather was completely opposite to the past month of bright sunshine and clear skies. It had been raining intermittently for the past week and it was nice to be outside for a few rain-less hours.
"The difference between a good duellist and an expert duellist is not defined by how many spells you know or how strong your spells are. It's all about timing, reflexes and knowing the exact method to counteract your opponent's spell," Sirius was saying as they both stood ten feet away facing each other, wands in hand.
"Let's duel now and we'll see how well your instincts are," said Sirius, raising his wand at the ready.
Harry mirrored him when Sirius threw a Disarming spell at Harry, who quickly ducked and shot an 'Impedimenta'.
Sirius' shield deflected it easily as he shot a spell at the ground near Harry's feet. The dirt exploded and Harry was forced to cover his face on reflex. In that quick moment, Sirius had disarmed him.
Harry was coughing when Sirius said, "Verbal spells are easy once you get the hang of it, but a non-verbal one makes it tricky for your opponent. Because you have no idea what's coming at you."
Harry raised his hand and murmured 'Accio wand' and his wand came zooming into it from somewhere behind him.
"Maybe I should learn to use spells non-verbally," said Harry, a little sore that he hadn't even lasted ten seconds against Sirius.
"It is a little advanced, you probably learn it this year for your NEWTs."
"If I can do a wandless summoning charm, I should be able to do this too," said Harry, face set in determination.
"Summoning is one of the easiest wandless magic, I reckon," said Sirius. "You can't possibly hope to stun or disarm someone wandlessly. It takes too much energy and concentration. Which is the same case with non-verbal spells. Sometimes, your spell even decreases in its intensity when spoken non-verbally."
"But you can do it! It's not impossible."
Sirius sighed exasperatedly, his twitching lips giving away his amusement. "With lots of practice, it should be easy to get it right."
"Okay, then. From now on, I'll try doing all my spells non-verbally. Duel with me," said Harry as he raised his wand.
Sirius probably had decided to go easy on him as he spoke aloud all of his spells to give Harry an edge.
Harry deflected Sirius' 'Expulso' with a non-verbal shield charm that cracked as soon as the spell hit it. Harry stopped, puzzled. Normally, he could hold up his shield for something more powerful than that.
He looked up at Sirius, who seemed to be waiting for Harry to get his head back in the game. Harry aimed and concentrating very hard, (which was slightly easier now thanks to his practising the wandless summoning) thought 'Stupefy'.
Bizarrely, Sirius did not put up a shield or even dodge the oncoming spell. Harry wondered if that was what Sirius meant when it gave the enemy the advantage of not knowing what spell was cast. Sirius fell to the ground and Harry hurried over to him.
He was slightly disappointed when Sirius started to get up seconds later.
"My Stunning Spell is definitely stronger than that," grumbled Harry as Sirius stood up, grinning.
"I told you, you need lots of practice."
Harry huffed. "I'm getting the hang of it before I step foot to Hogwarts."
Sirius' expression fell slightly and Harry wondered what he had said when he immediately realised the reason for Sirius' sullenness.
Harry pocketed his wand as he walked over to him. "Are you okay?"
Sirius looked up quickly and forced a smile. "I'm fine. Let's take a break. Come on, we'll get something to eat and ask Twitchet to tell the many stories she has of Potter Manor."
Harry smiled at that as they headed inside. Twitchet did have some amazing stories. And she also made the most delicious treacle tart.
oOo
Saturday, August 24
With the prospect of Hogwarts' start-of-term coming closer, Sirius had agreed to go to Diagon Alley to do their school shopping along with Tonks as backup security, who had some sort of job to do in Diagon Alley for the Order anyway. Harry was almost getting used to the feeling of Apparition as he Side-Along Apparated with Sirius to a Muggle street close to the Leaky Cauldron and then they had made the walk to the non-descript pub.
The Leaky Cauldron seemed to be devoid of its usual patrons and Harry spotted a young witch with mousy hair sitting in a barstool. Sirius called out to her, "Hey, Tonks!"
She turned towards them and Harry was slightly taken aback by the lack of her usual bright smile. She smiled wanly. "Wotcher Sirius, Harry. You both look good."
"The same can't be said of you, I'm afraid," said Sirius, narrowing his eyes.
"Well, let's get going then," said Tonks, easily deflecting Sirius' statement as she gripped her wand in her pocket. "You both go ahead and I'll cover you from behind."
Sirius stared at her a moment longer before nodding. He too had his hand buried into the pockets of his jeans as they set off and so it was with a sense of foreboding that Harry stepped in to Diagon Alley. Ron had written to him saying that they would most likely be visiting Diagon Alley that day too, along with Hermione. He hoped to see them; it was about two whole months since he had seen his best friends.
Diagon Alley looked nearly empty. Where the last time he had been here, there had been newsstands full of papers headlining Sirius' acquittal, now there were large Ministry posters pasted over every inch of the walls of the shops. Most of these purple posters carried blown-up versions of the security advice on the Ministry pamphlets that had been sent out over the summer, but others bore moving black-and-white photographs of Death Eaters known to be on the loose.
The shoppers walked clustered together, almost afraid to stop and chat or even look at the others. A couple of the shops were boarded up and Harry noted Ollivander's was among them too.
"What will people do for new wands?" asked Harry.
"There are other wandmakers here, but Ollivander was the best," said Sirius, a scowl plastered on his face.
On the other hand, a number of shabby-looking stalls had sprung up along the street. A seedy-looking little wizard was rattling armfuls of silver symbols on chains at passersby. The wizard hid his face when they passed by and Harry frowned.
It was then that Harry noticed the people around him were looking at Sirius rather fearfully, one woman picking up her little girl and almost dashing off in a hurry.
"If you keep up that look, people will think you really are a mad, mass-murderer," said Harry exasperatedly, rolling his eyes. He would be remiss to say he wasn't amused.
A smirk flitted its way on Sirius' lips before quickly changing to his now-permanent scowl. "Trust me, even if I walked in here grinning like an idiot, they would still think the same."
Harry snickered. They visited Eeylop's Owl Emporium to buy Hedwig's owl treats and then visited Madam Malkin's to buy new school robes. They walked out and were strolling along when Sirius stopped dead, staring at someone in front of him. Harry realized that it was Draco Malfoy and a woman who was probably his mother and Sirius' cousin, Narcissa Malfoy. She too had stopped dead in her tracks as she stared at Sirius, her expression one of great distaste, mirroring Sirius uncannily.
Malfoy was sneering at Harry and eyeing Sirius with a nasty smirk, when Sirius grudgingly put a hand on Harry's shoulder and steered him away, scowling at them.
Narcissa Malfoy, still staring at Sirius, tugged her son by his forearm to move away too, but he yelled, "Ouch!"
All four of them froze, when the woman spoke hastily apologizing to her son. "I'm sorry, Draco! I forgot your injury."
Malfoy was frowning but accepted his mother's apology with a reluctant nod as he rubbed his forearm. Harry smirked in satisfaction and Malfoy retorted, "Watch out Potter, your godfather is not going to stick around too long."
Harry drew out his wand instinctively and Narcissa Malfoy snarled, "Put that away! If you attack my son, I'll ensure that it's the last thing you do!"
"Going to get a few Death Eater pals to do us in, are you?" asked Harry, staring into her arrogant face. Sirius' hand on his shoulder tightened, no doubt to rein him back.
Narcissa Malfoy smiled unpleasantly. "I see that having dear Sirius with you has given you a false sense of security, Harry Potter. Your godfather won't always be there to protect you."
"You think Voldemort (the Malfoys flinched) is going to protect you then?" asked Sirius. "I don't see him rushing to save your husband. How is Azkaban suiting old Lucy?"
Malfoy snarled, "Don't you dare talk about my father like that!"
"Admirable loyalty," said Sirius with a haughty expression that rivalled Narcissa Malfoy's. "But, utterly childish. You have no idea what your father has done and is capable of, do you boy? You hope to follow in his footsteps? Become a Death Eater like him? A foolish choice."
"Unlike you? You defied your pure-blood family and for what? Even your so-called friends turned their back on you!" said Narcissa, sneering.
Before Sirius could retort, Tonks joined in. "Is there a problem?"
"Considering your presence, yes there is," said Narcissa with a curl of her lips. Draco sneered derisively.
"Sirius, we're getting late. Come on," said Tonks, glaring at the Malfoys as she ushered them away. Harry was mildly surprised to note that they had attracted a lot of attention as quite a number of people had stopped to watch what had been happening, but now were quickly hurrying away as if fearing eye-contact with any of them.
